The Tampa Bay Rays appear to be ready to add a former two-time Cy Young Award winner for 2022, as Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic is reporting that the team has reached an agreement on a one-year deal with pitcher Corey Kluber.
Free-agent RHP Corey Kluber in agreement with Rays on one-year deal, pending physical, sources tell @TheAthletic. Kluber, 35, missed more than three months with right shoulder strain before rejoining Yankees in late August. Finished with 3.83 ERA in 80 IP, including no-hitter.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 28, 2021
The 35-year-old right-hander was pursued last season by Tampa Bay before eventually signing a one-year deal with the New York Yankees. He made 16 starts in 2021, going 5-3 with a 3.83 ERA, including a no-hitter on May 19 at Globe Life Field against the Texas Rangers, though he missed more than three months after suffering a right shoulder strain on May 25.
Kluber holds a career record of 103-61 with a 3.19 ERA in 11 seasons. He won the American League Cy Young Award in 2014 and 2017, both with Cleveland, who he played his first nine seasons with.
The deal, which has not been confirmed by the team, is worth $8 million guaranteed and could reach as high as $13 million with incentives, is pending a physical.
Steve Carney is the founder and publisher of St. Pete Nine. One of the people most associated with baseball coverage in Tampa Bay, he spent 13 seasons covering the Rays for flagship radio station WDAE, first as producer of Rays Radio broadcasts, then as beat reporter beginning in 2011. He likes new analytics and aged bourbon, and is the owner of one of the ugliest knuckleballs ever witnessed by baseball scouts.
